This invention pertains to a lumber stacking apparatus and, more particularly, to a stacking apparatus which receives boards preferably of uniform cross-section in size and uniform length which are discharged from a conveyor onto which they have been placed after being sawed into suitable length. The stacking apparatus is designed to accept from the discharge conveyor of the saw short stacks of a limited number of the boards, accumulate a limited number of such short stacks at a suitable area in the apparatus, and when a predetermined number of such short stacks, which are arranged in a layer thereof, have been assembled, they are lowered onto a stack of such layers which have previously been discharged. If desired, the accumulated layers of stacks may be arranged on a pallet for subsequent handling by lift trucks and the like.
Various types of lumber stacking mechanisms and apparatus have been developed heretofore and some of them are available on the market for use by various commercial establishments, such as those, for example, making pallets which require a vast number of boards of uniform size, cut to uniform length, as well as other woodworking establishments in which stacks of lumber of uniform size are required. In general, it has been found that the commercial apparatus and machines presently available on the market are relatively large and complex and the selling price of the same is very substantial, certain of these being in the sales range of thirty thousand dollars or higher.
Certain of the devices which have been referred to above are illustrated in the following patents:
______________________________________ 2,854,152 Miller Sept. 30, 1958 3,080,052 Hanbury Mar. 5, 1963 3,241,689 Nerrinder Mar. 22, 1966 3,437,215 Lunden Apr. 8, 1969 3,531,001 Lunden Sept. 29, 1970 3,737,052 Lunden June 5, 1973 ______________________________________
Although the mechanisms illustrated and described in the aforementioned patents have a certain similarity to each other, as well as to the present invention, the ultimate operation of the present invention is different in many details from those illustrated and shown in said patents, primarily for purposes of simplifying the mechanism without sacrificing efficiency of operation and thereby providing an apparatus which is capable of being manufactured and sold for substantially less than the prices of a comparable existing machine now available on the market.